LIVE FROM THE VEENDAM - RIO and the AMAZON

[COFL]

Very interested in hearing about your experience. We are taking the cruise in 2018 and really looking forward to it. Have a wonderful cruise!

[themerle]

Wow that was a good turn out for the meet and greet! How everyone enjoys the Super Bowl!

[erewhon]

Thanks for your update.

[sansterre]

Today we arrived at Aruba at 7 am. DH and I will take a walk down main street. We have been to and explored the ABC islands and waters often so now simply enjoy people watching and walking about the city.

 

As most of you know, the football game was ultra-exciting Sunday night.

There was a good crowd; many brought food in from the Superbowl Party up in the Lido. First row seats in the Showroom on Deck 7 could be purchased for $49; the package included drinks and food sservice. DH and I had dinner in the DR so I can’t speak to the Tailgate Party food. We watched the first quarter on the big screen in the Showroom from the third row in the balcony on Deck 8. The game was also in our staterooms on channel 33 however, all the commercials were about ESPN. I was looking forward to seeing the Superbowl commercials as much as the game so that was disappointing to me.

 

A little bit about the ship:

Captain Eric van der Wal, is master of the ship.

Our cruise director is the delightful Christina Purcell.

Our show host is Cass, who we met on a recent cruise on the Volendam-also delightful.

Our room stewards (we have a balcony cabin on deck 10) our Rudi and Warman. They are efficient and personable too.

Dining information next time.

[sansterre]

Sansterre: Hope you are gathering all kinds of brownie-points in Trivia!

 

Happy cruising!

Tom, Eric and Lois

 

Hi Tom, Eric, and Lois! You will remember Cass from Pub Trivia on the Volendam. Yes, we are playing trivia every opportunity. We have won or tied the majority of them.:)

Gary will join our group in Rio for the return to Ft. Lauderdale. Wish you were here too!

[Nanner]

Bom dia, Sansterre! I hope you and your DH have a wonderful cruise. We really enjoyed the trip last year, though it is vastly different from the usual ocean cruise. I look forward to reading your reports. Best of luck with trivia, too!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Sounds like you are having a great time.

[sansterre]

Devil’s Island was interesting. We did not see any bugs, but did see some monkeys. The hike to the hotel was fairly difficult with lots of steps and steep stone covered paths. I have photos and will post when we get free WIFI.

Icaraci (Belem), another tender port - Icaraci is about 45 minute drive to Belem. There were 8 large air-conditioned buses to shuttle people to and from Belem, a city of several million people. We took the shuttle, walked around for about an hour (mostly on a riverwalk area of old warehouses that is now restaurants and bars).

We have had some rain on several sea days but luckily the port days have been mostly sunny. Yesterday the captain announced a change in the itinerary. Due to a police strike and public unrest we are not stopping at Vitoria. Instead we will stop at another port, Buzios.

Otherwise everything is going well. We were late leaving Belem due to an excursion (the river tour went aground) being about an hour late. Then the anchor got twisted so that was a further delay. But we are making up some time by cruising at 19 knots and closer to the coast thus avoiding some currents. We hope to make the next port, Recife, on time.

I joined the Book Club on this cruise. We are reading an interesting book about Tango and Argentina, The Gods of Tango. I would prefer a book about Brazil, but having been to Argentina, I can relate to many of the places mentioned. Still, it seems like an odd book for this cruise.

Information on Dining and entertainment next time!

[kazu]

Thanks for the update :)

 

Strange choice or not, I'm glad to hear there is a book club on board. Good news!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks for checking in.

We were on Devil's Island many years ago -- it is a steep hill to get up.

Did you get your certificates showing that you had been to Devil's Island? You pay for them at the hotel.

[lakes15]

Hi, Henry and Grace here, we will be joining you in Rio. What is the Happy Hour like? Is it buy one and get the second one for a dollar? I get the two ships mixed up with Princess.

[Nanner]

Just out of curiosity, did you get to use the ship's tenders in Belem or the local ones? Last year the experience with the local tenders was horrendous. We did enjoy going to Belem, but the tenders were downright dangerous. Loose plastic chairs sliding all over the decks of the boats, people fell and there were some injured. I hope that has been addressed.

[sansterre]

Happy hour has changed.:rolleyes: It is now buy one, get second one for $2. that means if we get two cokes. We save only $.25. I guess it is still a good deal if buying a real dink, and I'm not complaining until my $50.00 drink card is used up:D

We

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Have a great cruise.

[St Pete Cruiser]

We did use the ships tenders in Belem, and appreciated the nice AC busses.

 

Today in Recife they shuttle you off the port dock and also into the old city. Free! I'm sure we paid for it our port fees.

 

Great lecturer onboard as well.

 

I'm liking the Veendam better and better as the cruise goes along. The Crows Nest is nicer than I remember on the other S class ships. Nice leather chairs and of course windows nearly all around rather than rooms behind it as on the R and Vista ships. With only 1000 aboard, service is wonderful. Entertainers are being shared with Prinsendam as well as Seabourne.

[3Shelaghs]

Looking at this cruise for next year. Please return and post a review. And keep the dailies coming. :)

[sansterre]

Recife - This was an interesting port with a brand new two-story terminal with winding ramp (note: there are elevators if you need one). As we got off, on the second level, there are travel professionals to help you with plans for the day. One guide spoke Spanish and was looking for a group who spoke Spanish. We (a group of 6) asked for a guide and van to Olinda. It was only $25 (75B$) each but based on a group of 10. Soon there were 4 more interested people and we headed off for an enjoyable tour of both Olinda and Recife highlights. It was Carnival Day in the area and one of our stops in Recife was to see some of the old Carnival figures. Cost was 10 Reals per person ($3) and it was well worth the photo opts. The old prison now holds a small shop in each of the old cells - really good reuse of an old building. We had 40 minutes to shop around - good stuff and quite reasonable too!

 

TIP if headed to Recife: I heard that several people took a free shuttle from the terminal to a huge new mall where there was free WIFI. Also, there is a Hop-On, Hop-Off bus there but did not talk to anyone who took it; it looks new and is called Jardinere - or something similar.

HELP NEEDED: Does anyone know how to get an URL of my photograph? There used to be a way to do that, but I don't have any idea how with this new format.

[sansterre]

Maceio - Here we took a HAL tour for the highlights of Maceio. There were not many, but there was a nice view of the city from the highest point. Here you were to throw 4 red seeds available “free” from people selling red seed necklaces at the viewing area. Then we went to an area of small shops for handicrafts. I bought a few things (small purse, some placemats, table runner) because the prices are definitely reasonable and they are quite nice!

 

TIP: There is a shuttle from the ship to a market downtown. Many people took that and seemed to enjoy the day.

[sansterre]

The ship's tenders were used in Belem. Tanner - we are going to Buzio! Is the beach trolley easy to find there? Do you remember the price? And is there any description of other things you might see in town on the way to the beach?

[lakes15]

Just a sad note to tell you all, but as it stands right now. I don't think we will be sailing, we still do not have our Visas or our passports back. They can not find them. We still have two more days to go. Grace and henry. :eek:

[easyboy]

Just a sad note to tell you all, but as it stands right now. I don't think we will be sailing, we still do not have our Visas or our passports back. They can not find them. We still have two more days to go. Grace and henry. :eek:

So sorry about that. Must have been a lot of anxiety.

[sansterre]

Salvador da Bahia, the first capital of Brazil. DH and I took a 5 hour tour with Do Brazil Right. Our guide, Tillman, met us in the terminal and we headed to the old city where we walked a short distance to the heart of the old city. The Church of St. Francisco dominates the public square nearby. After viewing the gold-leafed interior of the church, we paused nearby for a beer and coke. Another interesting church (south of town) was surrounded with “LEMBRANCA DO SENHOR DO BONFIM DA BAHIA” ribbons. I hung the ribbon I received as I entered the terminal on the fence near the side entrance to the church.

 

TIP: Many simply walked from the terminal to the base of the elevator and for .15 (about 5 cents) rode the elevator to the heart of the old city to enjoy the day.

[sansterre]

Just a sad note to tell you all, but as it stands right now. I don't think we will be sailing, we still do not have our Visas or our passports back. They can not find them. We still have two more days to go. Grace and henry. :eek:

Oh no! :eek: I'm so sorry. Keeping fingers crossed for you.

[sansterre]

Ilhaus - our fourth port in a row. Whew! We docked in a commercial port quite far away from the city. No WIFI here (forgot to mention that there was good WIFI in the Salvador terminal). However, there was a shuttle to take us to and from the city every 30 minutes. It was about a 15 minute trip in an air-conditioned bus. The city population is 225,000 - far smaller than the others we have visited.

TIP: Wear good walking shoes to get on the shuttle even if you don’t plan on walking much in town; the walk to the shuttle is not short, nor easy for those of us mobility challenged.

 

TIP: Just before getting to the shuttle, there are taxis available. I don’t know what they charged, but I think it would have been a nice alternative to the shuttle for a group of people to sharing the cost.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Just a sad note to tell you all, but as it stands right now. I don't think we will be sailing, we still do not have our Visas or our passports back. They can not find them. We still have two more days to go. Grace and henry. :eek:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry to hear this.